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Recent News
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OFM News Release: November revenue forecast down $760 million
November revenue forecast down $760 million
Governor says all options to balance budget on table
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE —Nov. 19, 2009
OLYMPIA – The November revenue forecast for Washington state government shows projected General Fund revenue down $760 million for the remainder of this biennium, which ends June 30, 2011. The figure was released today by the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council.
Read the full news release here.
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Call it "Arne Duncan Unplugged," an unscripted Monday afternoon exchange at QuEST between the U.S. education secretary and AFT members on the issues that matter most to education's frontline. The July 13 session began with a drum roll: AFT members' handwritten questions for the education secretary were collected in advance and placed inside an onstage sweepstakes drum. After a few turns, AFT president Randi Weingarten reached in and selected a handful at random, and Duncan took the stage to provide some answers.
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QuEST 2009 Highlights
Highlights from the recently concluded 2009 AFT QuEST conference in Washington, D.C., included AFT president Randi Weingarten's keynote address, a town hall meeting with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, a panel on community schools and remarks from U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis. Daily updates from the conference, as well as video highlights, can be found on the AFT's QuEST 2009 Web site. |
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An analysis of the most recent 10 years of national data presents a troubling picture of disinvestment in the higher education teaching profession-notably, a reduction in the proportion of full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty, and an increased reliance on employing "contingent" faculty and instructors such as part-time faculty, full-time nontenure track faculty and graduate employees.
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A Show of Hands: Is Anyone Happy with the WA Senate Budget?
Washington News Service
March 31, 2009
Olympia, WA – Washington State senators say they've met their responsibility to balance the budget – but almost no one feels good about what they've come up with, the senators included. Some say this year's proposed cuts to education, state programs and services would undo at least a decade of progress if they are enacted.
Sandra Schroeder, president of AFT Washington, the union that represents college faculty and staff, warns a 14-percent cut to higher education would mean fewer professors, 10,500 fewer slots for students, and higher fees for those who attend state schools. [Read more]
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Seattle Times, Washington state richer, better educated than rest of U.S.
By Nicholas K. Geranios, AP
Dec. 6, 2008
SPOKANE — Washington state has a higher percentage of college graduates and a higher per capita income than the nation as a whole, according to a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau. [more]
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Practical uses of taxes is to educate workforce, Renton Reporter
Op/ed by Dean Radford, Renton Reporter Editor
Dec. 6, 2008
I've written before about how I want my state legislators and Gov. Christine Gregoire to use some common sense when it comes to navigating our way out of this economic “Bermuda Triangle.” [more]
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The Enterprise | Area colleges best value in education, 10/29/08
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Our state was recognized by AFT at their 80th annual convention in Chicago this July for our leadership on the Faculty and College Excellence (FACE) Campaign ( read more).
In case you didin't know, two of our members are regular contributors to the AFT FACE Blog, Phil Ray Jack from Green River CC and Lila Harper from Central Washington University. Here are their recent entries:
Dropping Dead: A Contingent Faculty Member's Retirement Plan by Lila Harper
A New Beginning by Phil Ray Jack
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WSLC Reports Today
Almost daily reports from the Washington State Labor Council includes legislative, local, and national news.
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Seattle P-I | July 27, 2008 | Vocational program builds opportunity for students with few options
by Claudia Rowe, P-I Reporter
Few college professors find themselves knocking on a student's front door, asking the parents inside if their son was just killed in a shooting. But Bob Markholt did it just a few weeks ago, after one of his pupils was gunned down in a car on Interstate 5 [read more].
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Inside Higher Ed | June 17, 2008 | Waiting 20 Years for the Tenure Track
By Phil Ray Jack
This summer, many of those fresh out of graduate school are preparing to begin their teaching careers. A fortunate few have already been hired to fill tenure-track positions, but many will find themselves on the unexpected and convoluted pathway of “contingent faculty.” With 70 percent or more of college classes taught by part-time faculty, the opportunities for full-time careers are rare. Many will accept part-time teaching assignments with the hope that it will build their résumés and be a step closer to the tenure track. At least that was what I thought when I accepted my first part-time teaching assignment. For me, when I was recently offered a full-time, tenure-track position as an English composition instructor at Green River Community College, it was the end of a 20-year journey. [Read the full article]
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Inside Higher Ed | May 23, 2008 | 21 Years as an Adjunct and Out
Inside Higher Ed's Quick Takes
Margaret West has taught part-time for 21 years at Edmonds Community College, in Washington State, gaining good reviews and annual contract renewals. The FACE blog -- part of the Faculty and College Excellence Campaign to get more tenure-track faculty slots and improve the treatment of adjuncts - reported that West was told recently that her services would no longer be needed and that a dean, asked why, told her "because I can." ( read more)
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Over 60 percent of tenured faculty at Pierce College voiced a "Vote of No Confidence" in Chancellor Michele Johnson by written ballot last week.
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On May 1st, Worthy Wage Day, the American Federation of Teachers released state-by-state data of child care workers' salaries to raise public awareness of problems plaguing the profession, including low wages and high staff turnover which negoatively affects the quality of early childhood education.
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Inside Higher Ed | March 6, 2008, Pushing for Job Conversions
by Scott Jaschik
In the campaign to deal with the shift of faculty positions from full-time to part-time, what counts as a victory? Better wages and benefits for adjuncts? More job security? Collective bargaining? Or the job security that comes with a tenure-track position? ( read the full article)
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